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Legendary Season

It’s the end of the Komodo season, and quite possibly my best season with Mermaid II in Komodo. As I scroll through my computer’s hard disk which is absolutely packed with all of my most memorable Komodo moments from 2016. Here area just a few of this years highlights from Mermaid II during the 2016 Komodo Season.

Sunsets in Sangeang Volcano.
It doesn’t matter that I get to witness the sun setting into the oceans horizon casting hues of orange and purple over the twin peaks of the semi-active volcano every week, it never gets old!

Manta Madness
This was really the year for the mantas. All season, from north to south and every where in between the mantas were in full force. On an average day in Manta Alley you could expect to see anywhere from ten to fifteen of these winged beauties cruising the reef, feeding, or being cleaned. On a good day, which happened more than the average days, you could be bombarded by up to forty mantas at once!

Unusual Surprises
In three seasons of diving Komodo, I had seen a lot of unusual critters, my list of ‘things to see had almost been complete.’ The only thing missing was the hairy frog fish. Up until this season, I didn’t even know they could be found in Komodo…then we found six!

Surface Surprises
Surface intervals are meant to be relaxing periods of time where you read a book and enjoy a hot cup of coffee. This is generally the case on Mermaid II, unless theres a feeding frenzy on the surface and the boat is surrounded by not one, but multiple fleets of hunting mobula rays as they skim the surface for their fleeing prey

This trip was critter crazy and kickstarted with a bang on the first night! We had a great night dive at the picturesque Satonda Island halfway to Komodo National Park. Stargazers, Ambon scorpionfish, seamoths, robust ghostpipefish, skeleton and mantis shrimps …

Another trip with beautiful conditions – clear blue water and just enough current to bring all the good stuff in! The seamounts in North Komodo were packed with fish, and we found ourselves totally embedded in Surgeonfish, Snappers and Fusilliers …

Highlight this trip’s gotta be the Mantas in the south of the Komodo National Park. Famous for its cleaning stations, with any luck you’ll see these majestic rays lining up to get fixed by hundreds of cleaner fish. With good …